It had been a long week. The team had just closed their second case in 6 days and after being called in last Saturday they had hardly been home. It had been worst for Ziva, whose turn it had been to file the reports. Everyone was relieved that it was the weekend again and that the team was not on standby.
Gibbs' desk phone rang.
"Don't answer, Boss." suggested DiNozzo. "We can just pretend that we have all gone home and no one needs to know, let the weekend team take..." he trailed off mid sentence, realising that his cause was lost.
"Gibbs. Uh-huh. I'll send them up." The team leader turned to him. "Director wants to see you in his office, now. You too, David."
Muttering under his breath, Tony got to his feet and started towards the staircase. His partner followed him, no more enthusiastic than he was at the prospect of working through another weekend.
"And DiNozzo" Gibbs called after them, "Don't antagonize him. You don't want to end up on a submarine.
"Yes, Boss." Tony replied "But," he added under his breath, "If he tries to send me to the desert again, I will quit."
***
When they reached the door of the Director's office, Ziva raised her fist to knock but before she could the Director summoned them inside.
"DiNozzo. David. I truly am sorry. I know it has been a long and trying week for everyone, but I have a case for you. Top priority. Our best Paris agents have come down with stomach flu at the worst possible time. Their team is not up to this now. I need this to all go off without any problems."
The two agents looked at each other. "That is what we are trained for," Ziva assured her Director.
***
It had been four and a half hours since they boarded the plane. Four and a half very long hours. At first they had the upcoming mission to discuss. Plans and backup plans for all possible ways it could play out. As much as Tony liked to joke around, they were good at what they did and the case always came first. That had taken one hour.
The next three hours had been filled by Professor DiNozzo's guide to great films to play on long-haul flights. Airport! Alive. Air Force One.
"Why do they all start with A?" Ziva had asked, with curiosity that was a little too forced.
"I am going alphabetically," Tony replied.
"Oh. Is it a long list?" She asked, already knowing what the answer would be.
"Yes. Very long." The glint of teasing in his eyes had made her relax a little. Maybe the flight would not be so long. At least they had been getting along better lately. Things had been tense he last few months and it was starting to show in the way they spoke to each other. Even McGee had noticed the strain it sometimes was to be civil. She had tired quickly of being a probie.
The next hour had been a painful commentary of the in-flight entertainment. Easter Parade hardly seemed the genre of film that would be part of Tony's knowledge base, but he was painfully informed of the trivia and behind the scene facts. Ziva, in her haste to pack had forgotten her earphones and these cheap airline ones just did not block out the sound as well as hers did. Her partner was totally oblivious of the hateful glares from the passengers he was disturbing. Most of them, including Ziva were trying to sleep.
Finally, right around the part where Hannah Brown starts to make it big on her own, he had fallen asleep. Ziva was relieved and thankful for the silence. Until the snoring began. She had forgotten how loud he was. The other passengers were more disturbed by this than they had been by his inane commentary.
"Tony!" she whispered angrily. "DiNozzo, shut up!"
He mumbled something incomprehensible and shifted in his seat. Ziva slouched in hers, wishing she was at home in her comfortable bed. She looked at the blackness out the window and wondered how she would pass the day tomorrow. She was not in the mood to play tourist. She had been making a mental list of all the places she could revisit when she felt a weight on her shoulder. Tony's head had fallen to the side and come to rest on her. Gently, she tried to sit him back up but he was too fast asleep.
"Oh well," she said to herself. "At least he is not snoring."
She sat back and stared at the overhead locker. It was going to be a long night.
***
It was midnight DC time when they arrived at Charles de Gaulle. Ziva was exhausted and feeling disheveled after a sleepless flight. The sun had just been rising as they came in to land. The sight of Paris bathed in a warm orange glow had raised a lump in her throat. There was something about this town which had always felt like home to her. The people had a reputation for being rude and arrogant but she had never found that. Perhaps because she spoke the language and had spent most of her adult life disguising herself to fit in places.
Despite his long nap, DiNozzo's hair was still perfectly styled and his suit only a little crumpled. Ever fashionable, he had chosen to wear a waistcoat to mark the occasion of his first trip to Paris. As they stepped out of the airport to the waiting taxis, he was glad he had also packed a heavier coat. The weather was cold in the early morning. The city was waking as they drove through the streets to their hotel.
Tony's excitement was obvious. He practically had his nose pressed to the taxi window the entire journey.
"I thought you would have been here before, Tony" Ziva said, more than a little embarrassed by his touristy behaviour.
"No. My father's business interests were always more... desert and tropical. But this place! This is the place where all the great movie romances happen. Except maybe Roman Holiday. Gregory Peck, Audrey Hepburn. Sharing a room, keeping secrets. That should have been in Paris. Casablanca. Bogey and Bacall will always have Paris."
"You like it because it is in movies?" she asked. She considered whether or not to tell him that Paris and Rome were sister cities, considering themselves the only two worthy each other. She decided not.
"Yeah. And... I don't know. My whole life I have had a feeling that I would like it here. Maybe it is the culture, the history, the people. There is just..."
"...Something," she finished. "I know, I feel it too. It is a place where things happen. There is always something new, yet it feels comfortable and familiar each time I return."
"Paris! On Uncle Sam's dime. It does not get any better than this!"
"This is not a vacation, Tony!" she reminded him.
